


To Walk, To Fly

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Crippling Injury, Disability, Gen, Injury, Rock slide, Whump, hiccup!whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 14:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20508683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup storms off from a conversation with Stoick and is injured in a rock slide. He and his father fear that he might never walk again.





	To Walk, To Fly

Hiccup wasn’t in the mood for this kind of talk. Then again, he was never in the mood for serious talks with his father. This one was worse though. He’d taken them out into the middle of the forest, with no dragons, so Hiccup couldn’t even distract himself with something. 

“Dad, do we have to talk about this  _ now? _ ” He realized it had come out as a whine, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Yes, Hiccup.” Stoick stopped, sitting on a moss-covered boulder. He looked tired and frustrated, as he usually did when he tried to have serious discussions with him. “You’re twenty, so it’s time.”

Hiccup found a smaller boulder across from his, sat down on it with a sigh. He just looked at the ground, found an ant in the grass to stare at.

“Dad, I’m not done with my map yet,” Hiccup complained. What his dad wanted from him was going to chain him down to Berk, and he wasn’t ready for that.

“Hiccup, the map isn’t as important as Berk,” Stoick told him. “I haven’t been back to my normal strength since I was hurt in that Dragon Flyer attack. Someone will have to take over as chief soon.”

Hiccup picked up a stick, scratched at the dirt with it. “Have Gobber do it.”

“Gobber’s not the chief’s heir.  _ You  _ are.”

Hiccup began drawing Toothless in the dirt. The ant walked over his drawing, and he paused to let it pass. It was dragging one of its legs. 

Stoick continued talking now that Hiccup had gone silent. It was about how being chief would have new responsibilities (he knew that already), how he’d have to get married (he’d already proposed to Astrid), and how he’d have to look after more people than just the Dragon Riders. 

Once Stoick was finished, he looked at Hiccup expectantly. Hiccup had finished his drawing, was just tapping the stick against his leg.

“What do you want me to say?” Hiccup asked. “Yeah, I’ll become chief and get married by tomorrow?”

“Hiccup, it’s not all going to happen  _ that  _ fast. I just want you taking on some new responsibilities around here.”

Hiccup stood, discarded the stick. “Yeah, that’s great, dad, but Toothless needs to go for a flight now.”

Then, not waiting to see if his father was going to follow him, he left, began walking back towards the village. He heard no footsteps, no sign that anyone was with him. He was alone, and being alone meant he had time to think.

He didn’t want any of this. Yes, he’d been born to be chief, but how was that fair? Everyone else could make their decision in life, so why couldn’t he? He just wanted to be a Dragon Rider for the rest of his life, a traveler, map as much of the world as he could. That’s what he was busy doing, but Stoick wanted to interrupt all that.

Hiccup stopped, took a moment to breathe in the cool spring air, to take in his surroundings and relax himself. The forests of Berk really were a beautiful place. Maybe he wouldn’t mind staying here…

But then he looked through the canopy of leaves up into the clear blue sky. He would miss that too much.

There was a rumble from the cliffside beside him. Hiccup glanced towards it, confused about what had caused the sound. Pebbles and dust rained down from the cliffside. Maybe there was something big up there.

Another rumble, and then suddenly, the cliff was breaking up, rock falling from the sky. Hiccup yelled, tried to dive out of the way, but a rock took his right leg and he didn’t end up far. The pain was unbearable, his leg crushed by the stone. He screamed, clawed at the grass, tried yanking himself away as the rocks kept falling around him. He couldn’t move. A rock hit him in the head and he went still.

  
  


Stoick heard the rumble, and he began to follow it at a walk, curious as to what that had been. Then there was a distant scream in a voice he knew, and he went towards it at a run. Hiccup! He hadn’t followed him after he’d left, but after some time he figured it would be a good idea to retrace his steps and go back to the village. There were things he needed to do. Things that could now wait.

“Hiccup!” Stoick cried, coming towards the cliffs. Everything was covered in dust, and he coughed, held his arm in front of his face to protect his nose and mouth. There had been a rock slide. The scream told him that Hiccup had been caught in it. Had he gotten out safe though? Where was he? “Hiccup!”

Then Stoick saw him motionless on the ground in the cloud of dust. There was blood on the back of his head and on a small rock nearby. The force of it falling must have knocked him out. Hopefully. Was he even alive?

Stoick ran over, knelt by him. “Hiccup!” he called again. He shook him, but he wouldn’t wake. He tried rolling him over, to put an ear to his chest, but he realized that he couldn’t, that there was something trapping his right leg. He looked to see a large rock over his right leg, crushing it past his knee. He cursed, then bent his head and pressed his ear to Hiccup’s back. That would have to do to hear his heart.

It took a moment for him to sense it, but eventually, he heard a heart beat. It wasn’t faint either, was nice and strong. So he’d just been knocked out by the rock slide. Hopefully the rock to his head hadn’t caused irreparable damage, though the one to his leg may have. That frightened him, but now wasn’t the time to think of that. He had to get the rock off of him.

Stoick stood, got his hands under the rock, and heaved with all his might. At first it didn’t budge, but then it began to roll, and it came off of Hiccup’s leg. Stoick was glad he’d been unconscious for that, as getting him out from under it with him awake would no doubt have been incredibly painful.

“Okay, Hiccup, I’m gonna get you home.”

As Stoick carefully took Hiccup into his arms, he wondered what could have caused the rock slide. Perhaps the cliff had been unstable and it had been the only sign of a small earthquake. Or perhaps there had been a large dragon lumbering above. It didn’t matter. He had to get Hiccup home and to Gothi.

  
  


Hiccup dreamed of rocks falling and crushing his right leg. He dreamed of his right leg being chopped off, of never being able to walk again. He came to in terrible pain, worse pain than he’d ever even imagined. He was laid out on his back in his bed, it seemed, and he groaned. He didn’t open his eyes, didn’t want to, because he remembered now. The rock slide, at least, hadn’t been a dream. That had really happened, and that was the reason his right leg was just a mass of agony.

“Hiccup?” That was his dad’s voice. He was sitting somewhere beside the bed. Reaching out his senses, he realized Toothless sat worried on the other side.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he got out hoarsely. The back of his head was throbbing fiercely, and he felt like there was a bandage wrapped around his head. “What happened?”

“There was a rock slide,” Stoick answered. “You got caught in it.”

“My leg?” Hiccup didn’t want to open his eyes and look, but he did. He sat up, though it hurt and made him groan. Stoick put a hand under his back to help him. “Is it… is it still there?”

“Yes, Hiccup, it’s still there.” Stoick pulled back the blanket to show him. His leg was in a cast made of clay. “It took Gothi a lot of work, but she thinks you’ll be able to keep it.”

Keep it. That was good. He’d get to keep his other leg. He couldn’t bear losing it after having already lost part of his left leg. It would have been too much. But…

“Will I ever walk on it again?”

There was a sad look in Stoick’s eyes, and Hiccup reached out a hand for Toothless, feeling scared. Toothless came forward under his arm, resting his head in his lap. Hiccup pet the top of his head, trying to brace himself for what Stoick was going to say.

“We don’t know,” he answered. “It was shattered and broken pretty badly. It took Gothi hours of surgery to try to put everything back in its place.”

Hiccup swallowed hard, looked at his leg again. He was glad he’d been unconscious for that. Though, he was not glad about the pain he was feeling now. It was making tears well in his eyes, as was the idea that he might not be able to use his leg again.

“Are you hurting badly?” Stoick asked.

Hiccup just decided to answer truthfully. There was an ache in his chest. “Yes.”

“Here. Gothi left you some potions.” Stoick stood, went to Hiccup’s chest. There were flasks out on top of it. He grabbed one of them, then came back over and handed it to Hiccup. “It’ll befuddle your mind, but it’ll help the pain.”

“I’ll take anything I can get.” Hiccup was alright with the mind befuddling part as well. He didn’t want to think, didn’t want to dwell on how he might not use his leg again. He uncorked the flask and began to down it with no regard for the horrible taste.

The potion really did mess with his mind. Upon laying down for a few minutes, he thought that he was floating and maybe he didn’t have his right leg anymore. That was okay, he guessed, because without his right leg, there was no pain. Feeling very tired, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a sleep filled with nightmares. 

Hiccup waited impatiently as the clay cast was taken off his leg. He’d been in it for a month, and not leaving his bed had been driving him crazy. He wanted to walk, to fly, to do something other than reading and drawing and sleeping. He’d been doing a lot of sleeping, the potions for pain making him tired. Sleeping was good. Sleeping kept him away from the pain.

The pain was much better now. It was still there, but hardly as bad as it had been.

He watched as the cast came off, afraid of how his leg would look. Once the pieces of clay were broken and removed, he just stared at it. It wasn’t the same. His knee was crooked, and his foot wasn’t pointing the right way.

“Oh gods,” he muttered. 

“Gothi needs you to lift your leg so she can wrap it,” Gobber told Hiccup. He was there with him, as was his father.

“Oh gods,” Hiccup breathed again, tears stinging in his eyes. “Oh gods, oh gods. I’m lame. I’m  _ lame. _ ”

Stoick put a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. “Hiccup, you have to do what Gothi wants, okay?”

Hiccup looked at him, tears brimming over. Then he looked back to his leg, took a deep breath, laid on his back, and lifted it.

Hiccup was lost in his thoughts as Gothi tightly wrapped his leg. His leg wasn’t the same as it had been. Would it even be able to hold his weight? It would have to, what with his left leg relying on the prosthetic. He pictured himself hobbling around the village, useless, utterly useless. He cried. He’d cried at the beginning of his month in bed, but had managed to stop. He felt ashamed for crying again. He’d shed so many tears recently.

“Hiccup, does it hurt?” Gobber asked him urgently.

Hiccup bit his lip and shook his head, choked on a sob. All of his pain was in his heart and his head. His leg was aching, but he’d gotten used to that. Would he have that forever now? What was his forever going to look like?

“Gothi?” Hiccup started once she was done wrapping his leg. He lowered it, pushed himself back up onto his pillows. The old woman looked at him, blinked sagely. She wore a look of deep understanding on her face. Hiccup had no idea just how old she was. She’d been old even when he’d been born. She must have seen this before, maybe countless times.

“Will I walk again?” Hiccup asked.

  
  


Hiccup stood on the edge of his bed, puffing out terrified breaths, Toothless beside him. This felt so familiar to him. It was like when he’d woken from the battle with the Red Death to find his left leg missing and replaced by a prosthetic. He had needed Toothless’ help to walk to the door.

Hiccup was alone for this. He didn’t want his dad or Gobber there, or Gothi. None of his friends could see this either. If he fell, worse, if he couldn’t walk, he wanted to be alone for that. He could talk to his friends and family later, when this was over and done with. He just wasn’t sure what getting it over with would be like.

His leg hurt. Gothi had told him it was most likely always going to ache now. He supposed he could get used to that, just as long as it worked. It had to  _ work _ .

Hiccup stood, leaning heavily on his left leg. It was odd with the prosthetic. Toothless was on his right side, and he held out his arm to him, put it on his head. He took a step forward with his right leg.

Stepping on it hurt. His foot slipped, and he went down, hit the floor on his hands and knees. Frustration burned hot in his chest, traveled up towards his eyes to form tears. His throat ached. 

He pushed himself up to try again, grabbed onto Toothless, who gave a reassuring coo.

“Thanks, bud.” Hiccup gave him a small smile that he didn’t feel. This time when he stepped, he leaned his weight on Toothless. It seemed his leg could partially hold him, but he needed help.

Hiccup sighed, sat back down on the bed, his head in his hands. Then he reached for the crutch that was beside him, stood, and tried again with it under his arm. This time, he didn’t fall. He stepped forward with his crutch, was able to make it a few paces, then turned around, and went back to his bed. He’d been used to the metallic fall of his prosthetic on his ground, the occasional squeak of it when it needed to be oiled, but he wasn’t used to the thump of the crutch. He was practically dragging his right foot along.

Hiccup should have been glad that he could move, but instead he just sat down on his bed and cried. He’d lost his usual gait. He’d lost the ability to walk normally. And what about flying? He looked hopelessly over at Toothless. Astrid had been flying him during Hiccup’s bed rest, but Hiccup knew that he wanted him back on his back. The two of them were meant to be together.

“We’ll get back in the air, bud,” Hiccup told Toothless. He patted him on the side. “I promise.”

  
  


Hiccup pulled on the brace that he’d made himself, strapped it on. He stamped his right foot a little bit. The pain had lessened with it on, and he wondered if he’d be able to walk without the crutch now that he had it. Well, he could only try.

Repeating what he had a week ago with Toothless, Hiccup stood, his dragon by his side. This time, when he took a step forward, his foot hardly dragged, and he didn’t fall. It hurt to put his weight on it, but it would always hurt. Hiccup took a deep breath, paced a little bit, and Toothless watched him with a curious, but happy expression. Hiccup smiled at him, and it was real this time. Maybe his walking would never be the same, and Hel if he could ever run again, but he could stand without a crutch.

“Now to see if I can fly,” Hiccup said, limping over to Toothless. “Let’s get out there, bud.”

  
  


The air was warm with the beginnings of summer. Hiccup had been outside since his injury, but he hadn’t been in the sky, and being grounded had driven him mad. It had felt like it was torture. Now, the torture was over. He was on Toothless’ back, his right foot in the stirrup - readjusted to fit its new crookedness. He got down low, gripped the handholds, and Toothless took off.

He could fly. Hiccup laughed when they reached a high altitude and went into a glide with the clouds. He hung on to Toothless with his legs, spread his arms, a huge, open-mouthed smile on his face. He was in the air again. 

As Hiccup flew, he thought over what his life had become. His right leg had been crushed, but thanks to Gothi, he could use it again. It would always hurt and it would never be the same, and that fought to despair him, but it didn’t crush him like it had before. Instead he felt good. He felt free. He was freed from the confines of his bed, from his cast, and right now, even from his leg. It didn’t matter if his walking was damaged as long as he had Toothless. Forget walking. He could fly. 

Hiccup laughed as he felt the sky around him. He barely felt the pain in his leg. 


End file.
